In Teddy’s Arms by K.M. Mahoney

Everything Teddy has ever wanted is right in front of him, if only he can find the courage to reach out and take it.

Teddy should really know better than to agree to one of Pierce’s “great ideas,” but he’s never found it easy to say no to his best friend. Which is why he finds himself on the middle of a snow-covered road, heading into the mountains to spend the Christmas holiday in a rental cabin. And, like always, Pierce’s great plan backfires. The cabin is a dump, it’s freezing outside – and then comes the snowstorm.

Pierce isn’t sure how he’s going to handle an entire weekend trapped with Teddy. Sure, the guy is his best friend, but tell that to Pierce’s body. It’s getting harder and hard to keep his hands to himself.

Teddy doesn’t think Pierce is interested in his nerdy best friend. Pierce doesn’t think he’s good enough for Teddy. But the fire’s blazing, the wind is howling, and it’s time for some changes.

Review:

While this is technically a holiday story, Christmas itself does not really play a big role. Pierce and Teddy have been friends since grade school, and their families are super-close as well. This year, their parents have chosen to go on a cruise, and school commitments mean Teddy and Pierce are left on their own for Christmas, when Pierce comes up with this brilliant plan to rent a cabin. Teddy is not thrilled, but can’t deny his best friend, and the guy he’s been in love with for years.

However bad weather leaves them stranded, and Pierce’s plan to invite a bunch of friends to join them is dashed. Teddy sees their friendship deteriorating. They hardly spend any time together and when they do, Pierce has a whole group of people around them. They rarely talk, and despite considering themselves “best friends”, Teddy sees a future where they gradually drift apart until there is only awkward small talk at family events. Part of his decision to make a move it based on this, knowing they aren’t going to be friends eventually anyway, so what can he lose?

Pierce is one of those guys who hides his attraction by sleeping with anything that moves, no matter the sex, and partying and keeping friends around him 24/7 so he can’t cave to his attraction. When Teddy does make a move, Pierce tries to reject him because he feels Teddy deserved better. I quite like when Teddy let him have it over that. I liked Teddy and his decision to take the bull by the horns, no matter the result, however I found Pierce kind of annoying. I wasn’t sure why he felt he wasn’t worthy, sure he was a man-slut NOW, but that was a choice he made, and he came from a good family. It wasn’t a case of a street urchin or ex-con, they’d been friends for years. I didn’t quite get his reasoning.

Even though you get in both guy’s head here, I just didn’t connect with Pierce and why he was behaving as he was, and that he couldn’t see what was happening. At least Teddy seemed to know what was going on. I think that disconnected me from the story. There was an epilogue ten years later which I’m not sure I needed, because the description of their life in the epilogue left me wondering if there was long-term sustainability due to their careers.

The descriptions of the decrepit cabin, the cold, the snow and trying to stay warm were well done, but I just didn’t connect very well with the two characters or feel that delight that two friends finally made it right, however fans of the friends-to-lovers trope will probably enjoy it despite the parts that didn’t work so well for me. It’s worth a read when you’re in the mood for that, without much more to the plot than them working it out.

It wasn’t bad, just wasn’t outstanding for me. And while he says he’s slutty, it was rather in passing and Teddy wasn’t exactly innocent, he’d had several boyfriends that Pierce managed to chase off more or less because they weren’t “good enough”. I think when one character treats the other like they are made of glass and too precious for anyone, it annoys me because it doesn’t give that person any credit for having their own taste or needs or wants.